


The New Wife

by great_neckpectations



Series: M'Baku's Wives [5]
Category: Black Panther (2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Polyamory, Polygamy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-09-09
Packaged: 2019-07-10 01:07:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15938603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/great_neckpectations/pseuds/great_neckpectations
Summary: Kambili deals with being the new wife of M'Baku and shares a tender moment with Ahunna





	The New Wife

Fresh lilies covered the ground of the city square that mimicked the snow capped on the great mountains. The smell of the embers and herbs still lingered in the air after all the tribe members had left the festivities.

The village came out this day to celebrate the matrimony of Great Gorilla M’Baku and his second wife, Kambili, healer and priestess. His first wife and queen, Ahunna gave her blessing to the union and welcomed Kambili into their family.

Polygamy as the west calls it was usually a practice for the more well off and higher ranked tribe members. After all, multiple partners and multiple children often calls for some type of wealth.

However, no matter the title or the riches a Jabari possessed, plural marriage and relationships was much of a tradition as the use of sacred jabari wood or the observance of Thursdays as a Jabari Holy day.

Practicality was the base of most relationships in the tribe. You found someone you loved enough to make a home with or start a family. Someone had to feed the goats. Someone had to bare children to continue the lineage of the tribe. Someone had to heal. Someone had to hunt. Every Jabari had their place. That was true of the greater tribe and in relationships. M’Baku and Ahunna felt for them, Kambili had a place in their family.

* * *

“I’ll have you know many women and men would love to be in your position”, M’Baku raised his brow in rebuttal.

“Oh really now? How did I get to be so lucky?”. Kam Kam ran her soft hand down M’Baku large biceps garnering a small giggle from him.

His expression changed from playful to thoughtful.

“Because Ahunna loves you as much as I love you. You fit well in our family. You bring her and I happiness”.

M’Baku reached up and cupped Kam’s cheek

“That’s why you are here….and all my admirers only have me in their dreams”

Kam Kam let out a breathy laugh at her new husband’s musings.

“I know I make you both happy, but I worry about getting the way”. The light hearted mood became heavier as M’Baku looked at her in confusion.

“In the way?”, M’Baku grimaced with his face twisting in confusion

“You and Ahunna have made this life for yourselves and here I am waltzing into an already established relationship. I feel like an intruder”. Sitting up in the bed, Kam Kam straightened her back and looked away from M’Baku. She clasped her hands together and twiddled her fingers in a nervous manner.

“Well obviously”, M’Baku said while turning Kam Kam’s face to force eye contact.

“Hanuman thought it so that we add another heart to our marriage and here you are. I don’t think Hanuman would appreciate you seeing a blessing as intrusion”. M’Baku’s calloused, large thumb brushed against her cheek.

“We want you in our lives. You are welcomed. Say it with me. I deserve abundant love”, M’Baku demanded

“Urghhhh”. Kam Kam threw her head back in fake annoyance and smirked

“Say ittttt”, M’Baku repeated.

“I deserve abundant love”, Kam Kam hurriedly spoke.

“Perhaps you two should spend more time together. Without my interference, eh?” M’Baku furrowed in brow at his suggestion.

“Perhaps”, Kam Kam murmured.

M’Baku cupped her round race into his hands and let his lips graze against hers until her lips deepened the kiss.

* * *

_3 weeks later_

Kam Kam often let things in life do as they wanted and her hair was no exception. Everything seemed so busy after the wedding, that she did not give attention to her hair, even less so than what she did before marriage.

“Ahunna..”, Kam Kam light voice cooed at the threshold of Ahunna’s library. The room was big and contained several built-in bookshelves that housed books on Jabari history, African feminism, and books written by her. The lighting was dim except for the desk lamp that illuminated Ahunna’s desk.

“Yes…. Kambili?”, Ahunna answered in confusion.

The two sisterwives had not spent much time together alone. Ahunna often felt anxious around Kambili unless M’Baku was there to calm her nerves. It wasn’t because she disliked her new sisterwife. She was a shy person and Kambili’s outgoingness sometimes made her feel like a stick in the mud.

“I was wondering if you could help me with my hair this evening, if you have time of course?” Kambili’s sheepish inquiry took Ahunna back. She had never seen Kambili be shy about anything.

“Of course, come in”. Ahunna ushered her in with a twist of her wrist.

The library/office smelled like aged books and sage. Ahunna left the comfort of her desk chair and sat on the leather couch in the middle of the room. Kambili hesitantly walked to the couch and positioned herself between Ahunna’s legs. Unwrapping her fro free from her turban revealed the tangles she had been developing.

“Kam…..when was the last time you detangled your hair?”, Ahunna inquired in her sardonic tone.

“Well….you know with the wedding and my healer duties, I guess I’ve just neglected it”. Kambili let out chuckle to hide the truth.

After what is supposed to one of the happiest day of someone’s life, Kambili had one foot out the door. She feared married life, let alone being the second wife to the chief, was not for her. How could she make M’Baku happier when he was married to Ahunna? How could she compare to Ahunna in any way? The constant comparison and worry of disappointing her new family threw her in a pit of anxiety and depression. She not only neglected her hair, but she began to distance herself from M’Baku and throw herself completely into her healing and spiritual work. If she could be of use anywhere, it would be at the temple.

Kambili handed Ahunna the wooden pick and shea butter to help her navigate the knots and tangles. Ahunna tried to be gentle with her tools but the task as hand was not an easy one.

“Ouch”, Kambili hissed as the pick got caught in a particularly knotted tangle.

“I am sorry but this is not an easy task. Hanuman blessed you with lots of defiant hair that even challenges the strength of Jabari wood”, Ahunna joked. Kambili grew silent.

Ahunna minded her future comb throughs with the pick. The library was quiet outside of the grunts from Ahunna when she worked her magic with the wooden pick. Days like this she was happy she had boys whose hair she kept short.

“You don’t have to continue if you do not want to. I’m sorry for springing this on you”, Kambili fretted. Kambili began to rise but Ahunna pushed her back in place.

“Stop running. If I did not want to do this, I would have said no”, Ahunna protested.

Parting her cloud of hair down the middle, Ahunna pulled Kambili’s head back and saw the faint tears in her eyes.

“What’s wrong?”, she stumbled.

“I don’t know why I am here.”

“What do you mean? You came in here for help with your mane”, Ahunna pointed out.

“I mean here as in why am I married to you two”, Kambili lamented. Shocked, Ahunna stopped her ministrations and turned to view her new sisterwife.

“You bring him- us, happiness. You bring happiness to our family”. Ahunna continued with styling Kambili’s hair. With three chunks of hair, Ahunna began to plait one side of her hair in a large braid.

“That’s what he said”.

“Well our husband is sometimes right about things…but don’t let him know that, eh?”, Ahunna mused while nudging Kambili.

“Ahunna…”, Kambili murmured.

“You two are already a solid unit. You have three beautiful boys. You’ve been together forever. You’re each other’s first. I don’t think I could make him as happy as you”, she confessed.

Once again, Ahunna stopped her braiding and thought for a moment.

“Well firstly, you do not make him happy as I. You make him happy as you. Do not compare yourself to an already established marriage”, she reprimanded.

“To be honest, when M’Baku came to me and told me he was interested in you, I got nervous. I felt as though I was failing as a wife. That I was not attentive to his needs. You are this ball of fire and fun. I am quiet and boring. It wasn’t until he told me he loved you because you brought out the best in both of us that it finally made sense. We Jabari have lots of love to give. Do not think we will give you scraps left over from our relationship, Kam Kam. You have both of us fully”.

Soft sniffles and whimpers came from Kambili as she left her built up tears flow freely. Ahunna, who is ever prepared, handed her a handkerchief.

“Thank you, NaNa. I really needed to hear that”, Kambili said as she laid her head against Ahunna’s soft thigh.

Ahunna’s fingers worked as she completed the second plait and she smiled to herself.

“And thank you for staying.”


End file.
